Happy Fri-yay everyone! Today I'm sharing a card that was inspired by the gorgeous colour palette over at Sunday Stamps that is definitely for my favourite holiday to celebrate - yes, that's Christmas you lovely lot over at Time Out Challenges: 

It uses another of my new stencils, the Holiday Icons stencils by Kristina Werner and Concord and 9th - take a look:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

I used all of the Sunday Stamps colours except black on my card today, adding with my trusty blending brushes (I used retired Gumball Green as my other green that isn't shown below). I absolutely love this layering stencil, choc full of holiday images (it includes baubles - in fact, I even made mine a red one for Silke's challenge over at TicTacToe - I went down the first left hand column of ornament/red/Christmas sentiment - although my bauble did get chopped in half as I made my cards, so I hope it still counts!) and it's HUGE - meaning you can make two cards in one sitting - bonus! I paired mine with a couple of diecut sentiments from the Big Type Greetings Dies, also by Kristina Werner:

A few sparkly enamel dots were added for a finishing festive touch. Here's the second card I created with the other half of my stencil panel:

This one used another of the Big Type Greetings in the set:

Not one to waste anything unnecessarily, I also used the last piece of my stencilled panel to decorate the inside of my card:

Finally, here's a shot of both cards next to each other so that you can see how the stencil design looks 'as one' (including the whole bauble!):

Another two Christmas cards for my stash! I can't wait to use this stencil again - it makes such a fun background for this time of year.

I'm writing this post on my lunch break, before finishing off my last bit of painting before my current decorating run can be considered complete. Glad it's Friday and the end is nigh, not least because I stayed up to watch the Traitors finale and subsequent Uncloaked programme with Ed Gamble so don't feel like I'm quite firing on all cylinders today. Tomorrow 'Operation Refilling The Craft Room' commences - wish me luck! Enjoy your day and I'll be back on Sunday with another project for our new challenge over at the Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

REAL RED CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)

POPPY PARADE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)

GARDEN GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)

COASTAL CABANA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

Today I'm sharing a card that was initially inspired by the colour palette at Hand Stamped Sentiments along with the 'O is for Oval and One Word Sentiment' over at the Alphabet Challenge blog, that quickly became a candidate for the current style challenge over at TGIF Challenges this week too:

The HSS colours all appear in the Traditions of Christmas designer series paper pack so I knew that would be my starting point; take a look at what I came up with:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

I started out by fussy cutting one of the floral bouquets from the paper, then added in another for good measure, and added them to a Pool Party stitched oval base. I chose a Secret Sea patterned base panel, but decided that my bouquet needed something 'extra'; I ended up taking three wooden foliage sprigs from my stash and adding gold leaf to each of them for some textured shine and layered these in beneath my bouquets. I added a twist of gold-trimmed Cherry Cobbler satin ribbon and a large diecut sentiment, then added some flat gold enamel dots for a final flourish:

Now that's a lot of layers, with much more in the way of embellishments than I would normally go for, but sometimes more really is more, right?! I really love this finished card too - perfect for special festive wishes.

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

I am late posting today; I finally embarked on emptying my craft room so that I could decorate and reorganise it. I emptied it on Sunday and have spent the last 3 days painting and decorating. A few finishing touches tomorrow, then I'm waiting for some new flooring to be fitted before sorting out the mountain of items that came out of it and restocking it with only those things I now need. My craft room is officially out of action for a little while, but I have a few projects made and ready to share with you in the coming weeks so all is not lost! Enjoy your evening and I'll hopefully be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

TRADITIONS OF CHRISTMAS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£16.00)

GREETINGS FOR YOU MIX & MATCH EPHEMERA PACK (ENGLISH) (£8.00)

CHERRY COBBLER A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

SECRET SEA A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

LOW-PROFILE DOTS (£3.50)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous LeAnne to host this week and she has a seasonal theme challenge for us to work with:

With Thanksgiving just around the corner for our friends in the US, LeAnne's challenge is a timely one. It's always nice to send thank you cards to show our appreciation - I probably send more of this kind of card than any other. I decided that I wanted my card today to be in the spirit of Thanksgiving - take a look at what I came up with:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

Not Pumpkin Pie - I still had 'pie' on my mind following my musings in relation to the 'harvest' prompt of Friday's card, so decided since pie is a big feature of the Thanksgiving feast (or so I am led to believe as a non native American) I dug out an old retired set called 'Sweets & Treats' for this sweet little pie image. Except I don't think this could be considered a pumpkin pie, as it has a pastry lid - and my research suggests that pumpkin pie is open-topped, more like a UK 'tart' - feel free to weigh in, American readers! So instead I decided that I would make my pie a cherry pie, cooked in my faithful Cornishware blue pie dish, with a cherry-coloured rosy hue behind:

Cherry pies have long been a feature in the James household at this time of year thanks to a dear long-time customer friend of mine who has generously shared her bounty over the years. She has now moved away to the coast, so I shall be sending this card to her as a thank you for the harvests of times gone by (thank you Gill!)

Follow The Leader - My super simple card today is inspired by Karen's card over at AAA Cards, where we are playing 'follow the leader' and invited to CASE Karen's card. I retained the CAS layout, with a single base layer and focal stamped image popped up on dimensionals, with a blend of colour behind, coupled with a punny sentiment. I'm also linking this card up over at Time Out Challenges where they are celebrating autumn festivities around the world - Thanksgiving is mine.

A Festive 'Take Two' - I liked this simple card so much, I decided to make another one to add to my Christmas stash and celebrate another festivity with another of the stamps in the 'Sweet & Treats' set: a Christmas pudding. Here's my second card:

I stuck to exactly the same design principles, but switched out the image and sentiment to feature this most delicious of Christmas treats. This stamp has a little more detail so allows for a little more colour to be incorporated - check out the jewelled candied peel and glace cherries in the mix:

I LOVE Christmas pudding (without white sauce though) and for me is a highlight of the festive season, but I think it is a peculiarly British tradition that is perhaps not shared with our overseas friends. I once visited some American friends shortly before Christmas and took one with me as a gift for them to try. Let's just say they much preferred the Terry's Chocolate Oranges I'd taken too!

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference (the Blends colours are in the table below):

You can see all of my Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

Enjoy your day; thank you for listening to my musings over all things pudding and pie! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£7.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£14.00)	CHERRY COBBLER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	AZURE AFTERNOON STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	STAMPIN’ BLENDS MEDIUM DEEP COMBO (£10.25)
POPPY PARADE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	POPPY PARADE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	STAMPIN’ BLENDS DEEP COMBO PACK (£10.25)	SHADED SPRUCE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	TIMID TIGER STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	LEMON LOLLY STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)
LEMON LIME TWIST STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)

Happy hump day everyone! Today I'm sharing a card for this week's challenge over at Just Us Girls where it's anything goes Stencil Week:

I was lucky enough recently to be gifted this fabulous Christmas stencil by my dear crafty friend Elizabeth, who is herself the absolute queen of stencils, so how could I not use it for a card for this week's JUGS challenge - take a look at my card:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

The stencil is called Christmas Bauhaus by Uniko (they also do a similar non-festive design which is already in my shopping basket) and consists of three layers that piece together to create this fun design. I stayed with traditional red and green for my colour scheme today, and cut a base in mat in the same colours before adding my stencilled panel and a heat-embossed retired sentiment from the 'Greetings from Santa' stamp set. The only other thing I needed to do was add a bright red shiny enamel dot to Santa's nose:

Isn't that just so fun?! I'm also linking today's card up over at Inspire.Create where the theme is Christmas. 

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	GARDEN GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	REAL RED CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	GARDEN GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	PETAL PINK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)
BLENDING BRUSHES (£14.00)	DELIGHTFUL DECORATIVE DOTS (£8.50)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (£9.00)	BASICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (£20.00)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's my turn to host this week and I have my favourite, a sketch challenge for us to work with:

This is a great sketch for easy cards, with the opportunity to use up scraps for those banners and choose a single focal point. It's also great for quick cards - and since both of today's cards can be made in less than 30 minutes, perfect for the challenge over at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown this week! I used a circle in the sketch, but your focal point can be any shape you like. I was playing with my Christmas Tags and More papers and found the perfect focal point - take a look:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

Christmas Tags & More - The Christmas Tags and More papers are full of pretty festive patterns, including a number of sheets featuring a variety of diecuts. I chose one featuring a wreath as my focal point; I added some peppermint embellishments and a gold twine bow for a little added festive detail:

I paired my wreath with a couple of banners in Garden Green and a banner from the paper pack, a trio of gold metallic gems and a pre-diecut sentiment from the Greetings For You. Easy!

Take Two - With all of the bits and pieces out on the desk, I made a second card using the same layout and other elements in the pack:

This one features a couple of trees, one a diecut and the other fussy cut from the DSP, to which I added a couple of silver foil punched stars, along with some clear rhinestones and a retired sentiment.

I much prefer the red wreath card, but the bits and pieces in this paper pack make for endless combinations using this simple sketch layout. I'm looking forward to seeing how everyone else interprets my sketch in the gallery this week!

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

Enjoy your day; I'll be making the most of our extra hour in bed today as the clocks go back and enjoying an early Sunday lunch before returning Junior James back to university after a weekend at home, complete with clean laundry and extra food supplies - what a life! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

CHRISTMAS TAGS & MORE 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) MIX & MATCH SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.75)	GREETINGS FOR YOU MIX & MATCH EPHEMERA PACK (ENGLISH) (£8.00)	ADHESIVE-BACKED METALLIC GEMS (£8.50)	REAL RED & WHITE ADHESIVE-BACKED PEPPERMINTS (£8.00)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	GARDEN GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)
SOFT SEA FOAM A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	GARDEN GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	SILVER 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) FOIL SHEETS (£4.75)

I am needing to add to my Christmas card stash so today I'm sharing a selection of Christmas cards I made for a few different challenges using mostly retired products. My first card is for the 'gnome' theme challenge over at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown and for the 'seasonal' challenge over at Inkspirational where my season is of course the festive season and Christmas:

I have lots of the retired Storybook Gnomes DSP hoarded, so this theme gave me the perfect opportunity to use up a little more of it:

I layered a panel of snowflake patterned paper for the background, then added a panel in retired Bermuda Bay and a diecut gnome into the aperture:

I love the way the diecut circle aperture picks up the subtle stitch detail on the gnome. A sentiment from the 'Kindest Gnomes' stamp set completes my card.

My second card uses the sketch layout over at Sunday Stamps - who can resist things in threes?

! I chose to feature a trio of penguins as the focal point of my card:

These were fussy cut from some DSP and layered onto a backdrop of pre-embossed paper from my stash for some subtle added detail and texture:

A trio of green gems for a little festive sparkle complete my card.

My final card is for the challenge over at AAA Cards:

They are looking for CAS cards with the option of creating something in grey monochrome. Not usually my first choice of colour, and in fact the first card I made for this challenge is one I'm going to share tomorrow, then I remembered I still had some of this Winter Meadow paper featuring the lone deer which makes for a beautiful CAS Christmas card in soft greys:

I added a silver foil diecut and embossed sentiment from the current Words of The Season bundle and a couple of white sequins to complete my card:

 So pretty! No visual summaries today as these cards mostly use product that's no longer available, but if it's items you still have in your stash too, I hope they provide you with some creative inspiration too!

Enjoy your evening - I'm off to watch the first instalment of this week's The Traitors - and I'll be back tomorrow with another couple of projects. Until then, happy stampin'!

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Nancy is hosting this month and our second challenge is a colour challenge: 

These colours have a wintry/autumnal feel and for my card today I decided to try them on a Christmas card using a new set called 'Joyful Tidings' - take a look:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

This stamp set contains two wreath images and some lovely sentiments - great for clean and simple Christmas cards. I stamped my wreath in Secret Sea, which might seem an odd choice, but some pines/firs have a distinctly blue tone, so I thought I'd give it a go! I coloured the pine cones in Pecan Pie, then used Mossy Meadow light and dark Blends markers for the remaining greenery and the citrus fruit - I used my colour lifter to create a much paler green, to give the impression of limes:

I added a few white dots to the berries with a white gel pen and added a couple of Mossy Meadow coloured brass enamel dots and simple sentiment to complete my card. 

This is not a colour combo I would ordinarily choose, and especially not for a Christmas card, but I actually like the finished effect - I guess that's why a challenge is just that, right?

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

As a reminder, for our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutral colours; however, the challenge colours should be the most noticeable ones featured on your card. We use Stampin' Up! colour names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible.

Enjoy your day and I'll be back later in the week with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

JOYFUL TIDINGS CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£21.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

SECRET SEA A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

SECRET SEA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)

MOSSY MEADOW STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)

PECAN PIE STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a fun sketch challenge:

I decided to have a play with some designer papers from the new mini catalogue for today's card and add another Christmas card to my stash - take a look:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

Christmas Tags and More - The diecut strips of patterned paper on today's card are from the new Christmas Tags and More designer series paper pack. This is a 6"x6" pack that is exactly that: some great festive designs, with everything from the mistletoe pattern I used on today's card to plaid, some of which can be easily cut into tags, along with a few sheets of pre-diecut co-ordinating shapes. This is your go-to pack for speedy Christmas cards and packaging - I can see me using a lot of it!

Serene Greens - I used a Soft Sea Foam card base for today's card. This colour doesn't feature directly in the DSP, but it compliments the boldness of the Garden Green mistletoe perfectly.  I chose to feature three punched sprigs of mistletoe as the 'anchors' to my DSP panels. You can see them with their pearl berries better here:

In hindsight I might have added a little extra detail to those punched leaves with a gel pen, to help them stand out a little better. Regardless, I think they work!

A  Mix of Old and New - I paired my new papers with some existing - retired - items from my stash: the sprig punch I used for my mistletoe and the Tidings and Trimmings set for the 'Noel' and greeting on the inside of my card:

Now that I'm no longer running regular classes, this is something you should expect to see me do here on my blog more often. Whilst I am in the process of having a good clear out (expect to see a preloved sale here sometime in the near future!), and I will continue to showcase my favourite new products, there are lots of retired items that are firm favourites that co-ordinate too well with new things to not put them to good use! 

I'm linking today's card up over at Inspire.Create Challenges where their challenge is 'It's never too early for Christmas' - so true!

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
• Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
• Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
• You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
• We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.

Finally, my trusty laptop unexpectedly 'died' with no warning earlier this week, so there may be some gaps with product details and links to the online store in this and my next few posts that will be added at a later date, since I am posting on the fly at the moment! My laptop is with the PC doctor so fingers crossed he works out whether resuscitation or replacement is the order of the day in short order, as I currently feel as if I've lost a limb lol! Enjoy your day and I'll be back on Sunday with my Paper Players project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SOFT SEA FOAM A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

GARDEN GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

GARDEN GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)

IRIDESCENT PEARL BASIC JEWELS (£7.00)

CHRISTMAS TAGS & MORE 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) MIX & MATCH SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.75)

I have a super quick post to share a couple of cards I made today using the current layout over at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge:

I was searching through my stash looking for something for another project, when I found some paper that I thought would be perfect for the sketch - take a look:

The rows of trees on this Storybook Gnomes paper reminded me of the sketch layout. I paired it with a simple sentiment and used some glimmer paper for a little extra festive sparkle:

I liked this card so much I made another one - here are both together:

Pretty much everything I used on these cards is retired - so I won't list the details here - these were just for fun. Back tomorrow with my Paper Players projects!

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a recipe challenge with the ingredients chosen by the lovely Heather Cooper:

Lots of ingredients in this week's recipe! The black/white/gold colour combination was my starting point and I had a look through my retired paper stash as I knew I had some options featuring those colours. I happened a pack of Merry Little Christmas paper and immediately everything fell into place and yes, by complete coincidence, I have another Christmas card for this week's AYSI card - take a look:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

A Retired Celebration - I happened upon this black and white starry night paper and thought it would make the perfect night sky for a layered scene created using my retired Bethlehem Edgelits dies (I added some gold borders using some other retired paper from my stash). I cut both pieces in white and added a gold glimmer star, along with some clear rhinestones to the centres of the stars on the paper - you can just about make them out if you look closely:

Night In Bethlehem - My heat-embossed sentiment is from the co-ordinating (retired) stamp set called 'Night In Bethlehem'. I used another of the sentiments and an image from the same set to add a verse and decoration to the inside of my card:

All in all, not too tricky to make up that recipe when I got going - and another Christmas card for my pile using one of my favourite religious Christmas sets to boot.

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• For a Recipe Challenge use all elements of the recipe - the possibilities within those parameters are endless.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
• Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
• Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
• You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
• We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.

Enjoy your day and I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

VERSAMARK PAD (£9.00)

METALLICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (£20.00)

RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£5.75)

BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)